Displacement chromatography (DC) in one of the three well-defined forms of column chromatography—elution, displacement, frontal. DC is principally a preparative method, but there are also analytical applications using “micropreparative” DC with packed “narrow-bore” or capillary columns.
Displacement chromatography may be carried out using any one of four general chromatographic methods when suitable, high-purity displacer molecules are available. DC is used in (a) ion-exchange chromatography (cation-exchange, anion-exchange), (b) hydrophobic chromatography (reversed-phase, hydrophobic-interaction, hydrophobic charge-induction, thiophilic), (c) normal-phase chromatography including hydrophilic-interaction chromatography (HILIC) and (d) immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography (IMAC).
With optimized DC, one may obtain, simultaneously, high purity (high resolution), high recovery (high yield) and high column loading (high capacity)—the latter much higher than overloaded preparative elution chromatography. In most cases, these advantages more than compensate for the disadvantages of DC (slower flow-rates, longer run-times, need for high-purity displacers).
Displacement chromatography is carried out by choosing (a) an applicable chromatographic method, (b) a suitable chromatography column with proper dimensions, (c) proper mobile phase conditions, (d) a suitable displacer molecule and (e) suitable operation protocols with properly configured LC equipment. Initially, a suitable “weakly displacing mobile phase” (carrier) is chosen, and the column is equilibrated at a suitable flow-rate. The carrier may contain a pH-buffering compound adjusted to a useful pH value. Optimal displacement flow-rates tend to be low, typically in the range of 35-105 cm/hr, though sometimes higher. A suitable amount of the sample solution is loaded onto the column at the sample-loading flow-rate. The sample solution contains the material to be purified in the carrier along with the proper level of an ion-pairing agent or ion-pairing salt if the sample or displacer molecules are charged or zwitterionic. Typical sample loadings are 50-80% of the operative breakthrough capacity. Next, a displacer mobile phase (displacer buffer), prepared from a suitable displacer compound at the proper concentration in the carrier solution, is pumped onto the column at the displacement flow-rate until the displacer breakthrough is observed. The purified sample comes off the column before the displacer breakthrough front. Fractions from the column are collected and separately analyzed for content and purity. Finally, the displacer is removed from column using a “displacer removal solution”, and then the column is cleaned and regenerated to its original state for storage or for subsequent use.
Though different from elution chromatography, in some respects, displacement chromatography is easy to understand and easy to carry out. In DC, a sample is “displaced” from the column by the displacer, rather than “eluted” from the column by the mobile phase. When the output of the column is monitored online (e.g., via UV absorption, pH, or conductivity), a “displacement train” is obtained rather than an “elution chromatogram”. The displacement train is composed of side-by-side “displacement bands” rather than solvent-separated “elution peaks” in a chromatogram. When a displacement band is large enough to saturate the stationary phase, a trapezoidal “saturating band” is formed. When a displacement band is not large enough to saturate the stationary phase, a small, triangular “non-saturating band” is formed. The height of a saturating band is determined by the binding isotherm at the point of operation; the area of a trapezoid-band or a triangle-band is proportional to the amount of the component.
Hydrophobic chromatography depends almost exclusively on the unique solvation properties of water that result from the highly structured, self-associated, hydrogen-bonded liquid. For conventional reversed-phase chromatography stationary phases (uncharged C18 column), binding is usually driven by entropy (+TΔS), which often must overcome unfavorable enthalpy (+ΔH). Thus, over the temperature ranges often used by chromatographers (10-70° C.), analyte-binding and displacer-binding often become stronger with increasing temperature. Another useful feature of hydrophobic chromatography is the use of additives that modify both the structure and strength of the self-hydrogen-bonding of the aqueous-based solvent. These additives include: salts (NaCl, K2HPO4, (NH4)2SO4), organic solvents (MeCN, MeOH, EtOH) and polar organic molecules (urea, oligo-ethyleneglycol) in chromatography buffers.
Hydrophobic displacement chromatography can be carried out using chiral analytes, chiral displacers and chiral chromatography matrices. Under these conditions, an achiral displacer may be used, but a racemic mixture of a chiral displacer cannot be used. Racemic chiral analytes can also be purified using an achiral chromatography column and an achiral displacer. In this case, impurities, including diastereomers, are removed from the racemic compound of interest, but there is no chiral resolution of the enantiomers. Development of useful, preparative hydrophobic displacement chromatography has been hampered by the unavailability of suitable, high-purity displacer molecules. We describe here new displacer molecules and methods to use them that have utility in various forms of hydrophobic displacement chromatography.
Good hydrophobic displacer molecules should possess a unique combination of chemical and physical properties in order for them to function efficiently. Some soluble, hydrophobic molecules can function as displacers, but only a limited few function well. Many of the molecules described in this document fulfill the necessary requirements for well-functioning displacers.
Development of useful, reversed phase, preparative displacement chromatography has been hampered by the unavailability of suitable, high-purity displacer molecules. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,262 describes various reversed phase liquid chromatographic systems using low molecular weight surface-active compounds as displacers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,262 discloses an extremely wide range of possible charged moieties that may be coupled with hydrophobic moieties to form the disclosed surface active compounds used as displacers, but discloses that it is necessary to include a large proportion of organic solvent to mitigate the surface active properties of the disclosed displacers. The presence of such large proportions of organic solvents significantly alters the process, derogating from the benefits of reverse-phase hydrophobic displacement chromatography. In addition, the strongly surface-active displacer compounds disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,262 do not function well, resulting in relatively poor-to-mediocre quality displacement trains in which a significant level of impurities may be present in the “purified” products.